Apparatus for peeling and disintegrating of veneer



N. H. SARV Aug. 16, 1966 APPARATUS FOR FEELING AND DISINTEGRATING OFVENEER 4Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 24, 1963 Aug. 16, 1966 N. H. SARV3,266,538

APPARATUS FOR FEELING AND DISINTEGRATING OF VENEER Filed Oct. 24, 1963 4Sheets-Sheet 2 VIA 70f? B) A gal 50 TOR/KEYS N. H. SARV Aug. 16, 1966APPARATUS FOR FEELING AND DISINTE'GRATING OF VENEER 4 Sheets-Sheet 5Filed Oct. 24, 1963 FIG.3

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APPARATUS FOR FEELING AND DISINTEGRATING OF VENEER Filed Oct. 24, 1963 4Sheets-Sheet 4 7'0F/VEYS United States Patent 3,266,538 APPARATUS FORPEELING AND DISINTE- GRATIN G 0F VENEER Nils Hugo Sarv, Jonkoping,Sweden, assignor to Aktiebolaget Jonkoping-Vulcan, Jonkopiug, SwedenFiled Oct. 24, 1963, Ser. No. 318,750 Claims priority, applicationSweden, Oct. 24, 1962, 11,395/ 62 3 Claims. (Cl. 14450) This inventionrelates to an apparatus for the peeling and disintegrating of veneerwhich is fed in a single layer to a cutter directly associated with theveneer peeling knife and by means of which the peeled veneer is cut,e.g. into match splints, .or blanks for inner or outer boxes. Thisapparatus preferably comprises a rotatable cutter directly associatedwith the veneer peeling knife, and feeding means located between saidpeeling knife and said cutter and adapted to advance a single layer offreshly peeled veneer from the peeling knife to the cutter.

In producing splints of veneer in the match industry it has hithertobeen common practice to arrange the veneer sheets coming from the veneerpeeling lathe in a stack of sheets of suitable length. These sheets aregenerally half as wide as that log from which the veneer has beenpeeled, since this lathe is provided with a knife which separates theveneer web into two sheets of equal width extending side by side. Thesesheets are generally transferred manual-1y to a sheet piling bench bytwo receivers who stand at the veneer peeling lathe and each take careof one of the two sheets.

During the peeling there always arise short pieces of veneer of lesslength than desired, as well at the commencement of the peelingoperation while the log is unround as during the peeling operation, onaccount of breaks in the veneer sheets. Such short pieces give rise toconsiderable costs. A great part of the pieces are of such a qualitythat it will not pay to place them upon the veneer stack, e.g. onaccount of their small dimen sions or poor quality, and therefore theygive rise to wastage. The other small but utilizable pieces, on theother hand, incur high manipulation cost-s, since the receivers have to,place them so on the stack that no unnecessary interspaces are formedbetween the small pieces which should not either overlap each other. Thestack should, of course, be as homogeneous and uniformly thick aspossible to be able to become advanced to the cutting machine as oneunit.

Accordingly, a primary object of the invention is to reduce the costs atthe disintegration of veneer into match splints or blanks for inner orouter boxes by reducing wastage and manual labour.

Another object of the invention is to facilitate further automation ofthe manufacture of matches.

An apparatus according to the invention is primarily characterized inthat the feeding means comprise a hollow support for the veneer, saidsupport having its interior connected to a source of compressed fluidand having a plurality of fine holes which extend from said hollowinterior of the support to the upper face thereof in a direction whichis in substantial concert with the feed direction of the veneer.

Hereby there is attained a particularly reliable and safe advancement ofshort veneer strips, e.g. the trailing ends of strips which have alreadybecome cut into splints, apart from their said trailing edges.

The invention will be better understood by the aid of the followingdescription of a preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view showing the main features of theapparatus according to the invention, and a log from which veneer isbeing peeled;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the feeding means as seen in thedirection of the arrows IIII in FIG. 3 and part of the cutter accordingto the invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic partial section along the line III-III in FIG. 2;and I FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate details of the feeding means as seen inthe direction of the arrows IVIV and VV respectively in FIG. 3.

According to FIG. 1 a log 1 from which veneer 2 is being peeled by meansof the knife 3 is rotated in the direction of the arrow 4 by means ofdriving means, not shown. Even though this is not apparent from thedrawings, the log 1 may be rotated by a device according to the US.Patent application Number 306,728, filed September 5, 1963, and theveneer peeling knife may be of the kind disclosed in the US. PatentNumber 3,224,477, dated December 21, 1965. By means of a feeding devicewhich is generally designated 5 and is most clearly shown in FIG. 2 theveneer 2 is advanced to a cutter 7 which rotates on an axis 6 and isenclosed in a housing 8. The cutter comprises knives 13 by means ofwhich the veneer divided into strips is cut to splints 9. To the frontwall 10 of the housing 8 there are secured a pair of bearings 11 inwhich stub shafts or pivots are journa-lled. A pair of levers 14 whichjointly carry a pressure bar 15 coopcrating with the veneer peelingknife are rigidly connected to the pivots 12. Rigidly connected to oneof the pivots 12 is further a second lever 16 which is coupled to aplunger of a pneumatic cylinder 17 by means of which the pressure barmay be swung away, so that the veneer peeling knife 3 will be accessiblefor cleaning and sharpening. That part of the apparatus which is locatedabove line 19 and to the right of the knife 3 in FIG. 1 may be swung upin a clock-wise direction around the axis 20, so as to make the cutter 7accessible for inspection or replacement.

Now, it is referred to FIG. 2 which illustrates the feeding device 5 anda part of the cutter 7 on a larger scale, and FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. Thecutter 7 which is assumed to rotate in the direction of the arrow 22 andof which only part is shown in FIG. 2 cuts the veneer 2 into splints 9by means of the knives 13. These are removably se-' cured to the cutterbody by means of knife holders 23 which in their turn are bolted to thecutter body by means of screw bolts 24. As is evident from FIG. 2 theedges of the knives 13 project beyond the circumferential surface of thecutter body a distance which is in concert with the thickest splints tobe manufactured. The thickness of the splints (in the feed direction ofthe veneer) is suitably controlled by adjustment of the rotational speedof the cutter which may be continuously adjustable, e.g. between 700r./m. and 3000 r./m. which corresponds to 9.2 m./sec. and 39.4 m./sec.,respectively. The feed velocity of the veneer may amount to O.5-l.0m./sec. 0.7 m./sec. is a suitable value.

According to FIGS. 2-5 the feeding device comprises an upper feedingroller 26, which is rotatable in the direction of the arrow 27 on an'axis 28 (FIG. 3) and has its circumferential surface formed of aplurality of small rollers 29. The roller 26 is divided into a number ofsections separated by lancet knives 30. Cooperating with the roller 26is a lower feeding roller 31 which is rotatable in the direction of thearrow 32 on an axis 33 (FIG. 3) and has its circumferential surfaceformed by a plurality of small rollers 34. The roller 31 is divided intoa number of sections separated by discs 35. The rollers 29, 34 advancethe veneer 2 between themselves in the direction of the arrow 36 (FIG.2) while the lancets 30 in cooperation with the discs 35 and theadjacent edges of the rollers 34 divide the veneer into narrower stripshaving a width corresponding to the desired splint length.

At the opposite ends of the roller 26 there are provided two bell cranklevers 38 which are interconnected by a bridge 39 and together therewithare rockable as one unit on the axis 28 (FIG. 3). The bell cranks arebiased in the clockwise direction by a tension spring 40 having one ofits ends attached to the wall 10 and its other end secured to a bolt 41which is screwed into the bridge 39. Its right hand limit position whichis adjustable is determined by a bolt 42 screwed into the wall 10.

In the lower arms of the bell cranks 38 a shaft 43 is rotatably securedwhich is rotated in the direction of the arrow 44 by the roller 26through a belt or chain or the like (not shown). Rigidly secured to theshaft 43 are a plurality of rollers 45 which are pressed against the topside of the veneer strips 2 by the spring 40 to advance the stripstowards the cutter 7. A holding down plate 47 and a supporting plate 48located below the holding down plate 47 are arranged behind the feedingrollers 26, 31 as seen in the direction of travel of the veneer 2. Theholding down plate 47 which is substantial ly comb-shaped as seen inplan view (FIG. 4) has teeth 49, 50 which are separated by tooth spaces51 and 52 respectively. The tooth spaces 51, 52 form recesses for thefeed rollers 29 and 45 respectively which engage the top face of theveneer.

The supporting plate 48 (FIGS. 2 and is substantially comb-shaped asseen in plan view and has teeth 53 and tooth spaces 54 which latterconstitute recesses for the feeding rollers 34 engaging the lower faceof the veneer. The supporting plate 48 is hollow and contains a channelsystem comprising a main duct 56 and branch ducts 57. The main duct isconnected to a compressor or another source of fluid pressure from whichair or gas is supplied in the direction of the arrow 59, and the branchducts 57 extend into the teeth 53. A great number of fine holes ornozzles 58 extend from the branch ducts 57 and open into the top face ofthe supporting plate 48. The nozzles 58 are inclined and directedforward towards the cutter 7 and lie in planes which are substantiallyperpendicular to the axes of rotation of the rollers 26, 31, 43, so thatthe air or gas jets issuing from the nozzles promote the feeding of theveneer and blow small veneer pieces having a length less than thespacing between the rollers 45 on the one hand and the common axialplane of the rollers 29, 34 or the trajectory of the edges of the knives13 on the other hand and thus not being able to become advanced by therollers 45, to the cutter.

On their very short way from the veneer peeling knife 3 to the rollers29, 34, the veneer is guided by vanes or guiding plates (not shown), andthe splints 9 produced by the cutter 7 are conducted directly from theoutlet of the housing 8 to the succeeding station of treatment, eg abath of phosphoric acid.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to one preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood bythose skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may bemade therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention. Even though the invention has been described as applied tothe manufacture of match splin s, it is evident that the invention alsocovers means for the manufacturer of eg outer or inner boxes for matchesin accordance with the above principle.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for the peeling and desintegrating of veneer, comprising aveneer peeling knife, a rotatable cutter and feeding means locatedbetween said peeling knife and said cutter for advancing a single layerof freshly peeled veneer from said peeling knife to said cutter, saidfeeding means comprising a hollow support for the veneer, said supporthaving its interior connected to a source of compressed fluid and havinga plurality of nozzles extending from said hollow interior of thesupport to the upper face thereof in a direction which is in substantialconcert with the feed direction of the veneer, and a hold down plateparallel to the upper face of said hollow support and so spaced fromsaid hollow support that the freshly peeled veneer is firmly supportedby the hold down plate and the hollow support while said veneer is beingadvanced to the cutter.

2. Apparatus for the peeling of veneer and for cutting said veneer intoequal-sized pieces comprising a veneer peeling device, a rotatablecutter carrying cutting knives, and feeding means located between saidpeeling device and said rotatable cutter for advancing a single layer offreshly peeled veneer to said rotatable cutter, said feeding meanscomprising a hollow support for supporting the surface of said veneerwhich'is opposite to the direction of movement of the knives of saidrotatable cutter, said support having its hollow interior connected to asource of fluid and having a plurality of nozzles extending from saidhollow interior of the support to the supporting face thereof in adirection which is in substantial concert with the feed direction of theveneer and towards the direction of the cutter, and hold down means forholding said veneer in a firmly supported position against the hollowsupport while it is being advanced by said feeder means and cut by saidrotatable cutter.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, in which said hold down means comprises acomb-shaped plate having spaced teeth extending in planar alignment withsaid plate and tooth spaces between said teeth, and a plurality ofspaced circular knives extending into the tooth spaces between saidplate and through said veneer so as to slice said veneer intopredetermined widths prior to cutting said veneer with the rotatablecutter.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 244,154 7/1881Wilson 144-209 1,473,545 11/1923 Collier 144-209 1,651,096 11/1927Molins 83-98 2,639,487 5/1953 Kelly 22697 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,125,2593/1962 Germany.

HAROLD D. WHITEHEAD, Primary Examiner.

WILLIAM W. DYER, JR.) Examiner.

1. APPARATUS FOR THE PEELING AND DESINTEGRATING OF VENEER, COMPRISING AVENEER PEELING KNIFE, A ROTATABLE CUTTER AND FEEDING MEANS LOCATEDBETWEEN SAID PEELING KNIFE AND SAID CUTTER FOR ADVANCING A SINGLE LAYEROF FRESHLY PEELED VENEER FROM SAID PEELING KNIFE TO SAID CUTTER, SAIDFEEDING MEANS COMPRISING A HOLLOW SUPPORT FOR THE VENEER, SAID SUPPORTHAVING ITS INTERIOR CONNECTED TO A SOURCE OF COMPRESSED FLUID AND HAVINGA PLURALITY OF NOZZLES EXTENDING FROM SAID HOLLOW INTERIOR OF THESUPPORT TO THE UPPER FACE THEREOF IN A DIRECTION WHICH IS IN SUBSTANTIAL